The present invention relates to a generatively manufactured component with at least one mark and a method for forming, repairing and/or replacing such a component by a generative manufacturing method.
Manufacturing a three-dimensional object layer-by-layer by means of a generative manufacturing method is known from German Patent Document No. DE 10 2009 055 661 A1.
A three-dimensional object manufactured in this way may have considerable internal stress, which can be determined only with great difficulty.
With this as the background, the object of the invention is making available an improved component and a method for manufacturing such a component.
According to the invention, a component, in particular an engine component, is made available, which has at least one mark with a predetermined three-dimensional shape for determining a stress in the component and wherein the component is constructed by a generative manufacturing method.
In addition, according to the invention a method is made available for constructing a component, in particular an engine component, wherein the method has the following steps in an embodiment: constructing the component by a generative manufacturing method and forming at least one mark in the component, which has a predetermined three-dimensional shape for determining a stress in the component.
The advantage of the component and the method for manufacturing the component is that the mark deforms in the component based on stress such as, for example, internal stress, thereby correspondingly changing the predetermined initial shape of the mark and is able to be detected by non-destructive methods, such as, for example, ultrasound or x-ray CT.
It is possible to determine stress such as internal stress of the component from the change in the initial shape of the mark and, for example, subsequently optimize the process parameters of the generative manufacturing method on the basis of the internal stress that is established in order to reduce the stress in the components. In addition, it is possible to easily remove such a mark later or leave it in the component as a stress sensor and reuse it.
The knowledge/idea underlying the present invention is forming a mark in the component with a defined three-dimensional shape in order to subsequently detect stress in the component by non-destructive test methods based on a change in the shape of the mark. To this end, the region of the mark is not solidified during the generative construction of the component by irradiation by an energy radiation source such as, for example, a laser or an electron-beam source, but remains non-irradiated.
Advantageous embodiments and further developments of the invention are disclosed in the dependent claims as well as in the description making reference to the drawings.
In an embodiment according to the invention, the mark is made of at least one slot, one sphere and/or one polygon. The advantage of a slot is that it is possible to track a change in the shape such as, for example, an opening and closing of the slot, very well by ultrasound or an x-ray CT.
In a further embodiment according to the invention, the component has at least one surface section with induced internal compressive stress. It is possible to evaluate the internal compressive stress, for example, as a function of the result of the stress in the component that is established in the at least one mark. The internal compressive stress may be induced in the surface section of the component by shot peening, surface rolling, laser shock radiation and/or ultrasonic impact treatment, for example.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the mark is configured or dimensioned in such a way that it can be detected by a non-destructive test method such as by an ultrasonic method and/or an x-ray CT method. It is possible to detect marks with a diameter or a width of between 4 μm and 8 μm, for example, very well by the ultrasonic method. It is possible in turn to detect marks with a diameter or a width of between 0.1 mm and 0.5 mm and substantially greater, for example, very well by the x-ray CT method.
In an embodiment according to the invention, the component is not fused or solidified by the generative manufacturing method in the region of the mark. The powder is correspondingly not irradiated by the energy radiation source in the region of the mark.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the component has several marks, which are arranged in the component uniformly or non-uniformly and wherein the marks have the same shape and/or dimensioning or a different shape and/or a different dimensioning. The arrangement, dimensioning and/or shape of a mark may be selected as a function of the stress to be examined or to be expected.
In an embodiment of the invention, the component is an engine component, for example, in particular at least one part of an engine blade or an engine housing.
The foregoing embodiments and further developments may be combined with one another at will where meaningful. Other possible embodiments, further developments and implementations of the invention also include combinations of features of the invention described with respect to the exemplary embodiments that are not mentioned explicitly in the foregoing or in the following. In particular, in doing so, a person skilled in the art will also add individual aspects as improvements or supplements to the respective basic form of the present invention.
The invention will be explained in greater detail in the following on the basis of the exemplary embodiments indicated in the schematic figures of the drawings.